Elastic support hose and other tubular elastic materials are applied to the limbs of persons in order to provide various levels of support for a variety of purposes. Examples of support hose are so-called T.E.D. hose, Jobst stockings, and compression stockings.
Elastic support hose and other tubular elastic materials are sometimes difficult to apply to the limbs of patients. Typically, such materials are relatively tight and difficult to slide over a limb. This is especially true when a limb is swollen, which is frequently present when support hose is used. Moreover, sliding an elastic tube over a limb can be abrasive and can cause pain or aggravate an injury.
One way of applying hose to a limb is to roll the hose into a coil from the open end of the hose toward the toe and then unroll the coil from the toe of the person upwardly along the limb. A difficulty with tight support hose is that as the support hose is rolled up into a coil, the aperture in the coil becomes smaller and smaller, and the support hose, when coiled, is not sufficiently expandable to permit the support hose to be fitted over the limb of the patient.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for applying and removing tubular elastic materials from a patient.
In accordance with the present invention, a support hose applicator and method for applying elastic tubular material to a limb of a patient comprises a support ring having rotatable sidewalls on which the hose can be rolled. Desirably, the ring comprises a plurality of ring segments rotatably mounted on a resiliently expandable band that is expandable to make the ring larger. The support ring fits over elongated sidewalls of a compatible mandrel. Hose is rolled on the ring by folding an open end of the hose over the ring and then rolling the ring along the mandrel. The separate ring segments permit the sidewalls of the ring to roll, while the expandable band permits the ring to expand as the hose is rolled up on the mandrel. The expansion of the ring allows the interior opening in the rolled hose to be maintained at the same diameter as the exterior of the mandrel.